In the Jewish communal world, engaging 20- and 30-somethings is a hot-button issue: How do we get young Jews to feel connected to Israel? To affiliate with traditional Jewish institutions? To care about Jewish continuity, ritual, and tradition? As a member of this exclusive community, Stefanie Bregman set out to tackle these questions and sought out to compile a collection of personal essays and memoirs from Jewish 20- and 30-somethings across the country.

Stefanie Pervos Bregman is the manager of digital communications at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, associate editor of JUF News and blogger-in-chief of Oy!Chicago, a website for Jewish 20- and 30-somethings. Stefanie earned her bachelor of arts in journalism from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and completed her master’s degree in Jewish professional studies from the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies. Stefanie and her husband, Michael, live in Chicago with their bichon poodle, Bialy.

At once confrontational, comforting, and hilarious this is the definitive ‘Who am I? and why am I?’ book for Jews of our generation. I can only hope to one day contribute to a collection this rigorous, this touching, and this important for the question of our identity as Jews.

— Mayim Bialik, PhD, author of Beyond the Sling

In her prologue, [Bregman] notes it’s difficult to define her generation, something which becomes increasingly clear in the essays featured. . . . The majority are written by Jewish professionals and bloggers, all of whom are in some way connected to the larger Jewish community. . . . While it’s difficult to define the wishes and desires of this generation, Bregman does see some reoccurring themes: a willingness to learn lessons from the past, a desire to redefine Jewish rituals, a refusal to label themselves by denominations or movements, a re-examination of relationships and marriage, an ability to find Jewish meaning through art and music, and a willingness to explore secular and Jewish conflicting values. . . . Is there some way to make them more involved, or will this group of young people force us to find a new way to create Jewish connections? What these essays make very clear is that there is no one answer to this question.

— Rabbi Rachel Esserman, The Reporter

Charming and diverse, here is an engaging chorus of voices much greater than the sum of its parts.

— Elisa Albert, author of The Book of Dahlia and How This Night is Different

I highly recommend Living Jewishly: A Snapshot of a Generation. Jews of any age and background are likely to find a place where their particular Jewish stories belong.

— TC Jewfolk, Twin Cities Hub for Hip Jewish Stuff

Engaging young Jewish adults in their 20s and 30s is challenging to say the least, but a new collection of personal essays and memoirs from young American Jews hopes to enlighten and possibly bridge the gap.

— eJewishPhilanthropy

The book is a slim but vibrant volume filled with fascinatingly diverse viewpoints on what it means to be young and Jewish.